Sleepworking
by KirbyWrites
Summary: Gijinka AU, implied Meta/Dedede. Meta Knight is known throughout Dreamland for working if he can't sleep. But when Dedede crashes into his bed one night, the knight is forced to reflect on recent events. And when the king leaves a note, Meta Knight thinks about his relations with the king- and wonders if there's more to King Dedede's antics than he lets on. One-shot.


AN: This was inspired off one of Goldie's lines in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, where she talks about where she'd fall asleep at her desk and her mother would cover her with a blanket. She would then wake up with illegible scribbles all over her because she wrote in her sleep. Combine those lines with the generous amount of Metadede fics and art I've been recently looking at, and you've got this fic. I just thought about how cute it would be if the two of them did this, and yes, I partly did this to make up for the lack of updates to Mistakes Were Made. I promise with all my heart that the next chapter will be out soon, so expect an update sometime in the foreseeable future. If I have enough motivation to write, that is.

* * *

Meta Knight stared at the Halberd ceiling in the darkness, a snoring King Dedede by his side. Though the knight was utterly exhausted from helping the king rebuild his castle after the Jamba Heart incident, he just couldn't get to sleep. His mind was swirling with many different thoughts, all of them vying for his full attention. There were so many that he actually couldn't focus on trying to sleep, despite knowing that he would have to help again with the rebuilding tomorrow. One that came to the front of his mind at that moment was his relationship with the king. In days prior, Kirby had found him in Castle Dedede's halls and told him that Dedede had something more in mind for their friendship. The child had briefly hinted that what the king wanted from him was love; he'd run off after that, giggling and veering away from the throne room. Maybe it had been a prank, maybe it was true, but either way, the knight had just stood there, pondering over what his student had just told him. Yes, he cared for Dedede a lot, enough to let him stay at the Halberd for the time being, but love? That was going just a tiny bit too far, in Meta Knight's opinion. He had never really been involved with such personal affairs since there was always a demonbeast to fight, new fighting skills to teach Kirby, and diplomatic missions to other planets. He was abruptly torn from his thoughts- the intrusion being one of Dedede's arms slapping across his sleep-partner; the knight winced from the impact, sighed, and gazed back up at the battleship ceiling. He glanced at the digital clock beside him to get an idea of just how long it had been since the king had crashed into his bed. The warrior hadn't liked the interruption to his sleep schedule, but the king really could be stubborn when he wanted to.

_**2:35 AM**_

Nova's grace, it had already been 4 hours. He couldn't stay here, or he'd surely grow crazy. That or he'd collapse tomorrow from lack of sleep. Hopefully, he wouldn't be asked to carry anything heavy. He lifted Dedede's arm and slowly set it down after he slid off. Stifling a yawn, he switched his desk light on and gathered his sketches for upgrades to the Combo Cannon. It might've been the most powerful cannon, but it was far from perfect and each of his crew members had submitted a potential sketch of something they wanted to be added. Grabbing a nearby pencil, he started to outline the different additions his crew wanted on a picture of the original cannon. Meta Knight blinked tiredly, but slowly continued drawing. A line there, a tiny circle here, perhaps just a few more smaller lines there… No. He grabbed an eraser and got rid of the last two lines, replacing them with a curve. Now it looked like a real machine gun, part of Sailor Dee's idea. The idea had been to attach a few machine guns onto the actual cannon above the laser shooter. As it was, the Combo Cannon was slow to charge its attacks and while they were devastating, the knight knew they could be easily dodged, making speed a sorely lacking spot for it. With the new machine guns on the side, anyone who tried to fight their way past the cannon (like Kirby) would be peppered with a barrage of shots and would drastically boost the likelihood of getting hit by at least one of the cannon's charged attacks. Suddenly, Meta Knight found the motion of his hand lulling him to sleep. He shook his head and tried to walk back to the bed, but found he couldn't work up the energy to move. The knight was barely able to push the sketches to the top of the desk before he promptly fell asleep on the table.

-o-

Dedede yawned as he woke up. It took him a while to figure out where he was because of his unfamiliar surroundings, then remembered he was in Meta Knight's bed in the Halberd. Speaking of his best knight, the king couldn't find him anywhere and the space where he had been was empty. It was only when he noticed the bright light shining from the desk that King Dedede saw the man asleep on the desk. The king's cheeks flushed, but he got up, his blanket wrapped around himself, and saw the sketches hastily pushed near the wall. "Ya really do work too hard, Meta," he softly chuckled, ruffling Meta Knight's fluffy hair. His friend was known for working if he couldn't sleep, normally resulting in him collapsing from exhaustion the next day. The knight turned his head sideways and shivered; Dedede realized he was likely uncomfortable and cold. While the king wanted to pick him up and carry the sleeping man back to the bed, the warrior was a very light sleeper because of the war he had been in. Since he had to be ready for battle at a moment's notice, the knight had gotten used to light sleep and woke at any sound. So King Dedede slowly lifted Meta Knight's head to slip a pillow under it and draped the blanket he'd been using for himself over the knight's body. The king started back towards the bed, then stopped. His friend was probably exhausted from staying up so late and helping him rebuild, meaning he hadn't had enough time to patrol as usual. That's why Dreamland didn't feel too safe anymore, and he missed the sight of the Halberd cruising around the sky. Dedede found an empty piece of paper on the desk, gently plucked the pencil from the warrior's hand, and scribbled out a note. Setting it where the knight could see it and placing the pencil under it, the king nodded, turned off the desk light, and silently crept out of Meta Knight's room. He didn't want to stay any longer than he had to, so he'd just use the guest room for now.

* * *

The next morning, Meta Knight jerked awake. He had slept in, and now he'd be late! The knight saw the pillow and blanket, then found the note that someone had left. When he opened it, his eyes flitted to the bottom and lingered on Dedede's signature. This couldn't be a… love note, could it? He went back to the top and began reading it.

_Meta,_

_If you're readin' this, don't you worry about the rebuilding and all. I'm sure I can do it myself and besides, it's only the deck where the heart crashed that needs to be fixed. I wanted to give the Dee workers a break- oh, and you too, of course. You seemed real exhausted when I saw you last night. I mean, you slept at what time? 2:45? 3 in the morning? Meta, you may be the toughest guy I know, but not even you can run on two or three hours of sleep. Hah, you'll probably be reading this at 5 in the morning. _Here, Meta Knight checked his actual clock; it was actually around 6 in the morning. He'd slept late for a whole hour. _I think I know why you're so darn exhausted when ya don't sleep. You're the most mature person in our bunch and you gotta put up with all the Scarfy crap me and Kirby do. I kinda gotta commend you on that, since it takes a ton of patience and energy to deal with us. Fortunately for us, you got what you need to do it. But it prolly tuckers ya out, because as soon as you get less than 6 hours of sleep, ya just don't "have the time to deal with us". That's just another name for you not wanting to put up with our antics. Enough of me ranting 'bout your sleep schedule. Ya got all this spare time now. What're you gonna use it for? Go patrol! Haven't seen you do that in a while. Dreamland just don't feel safe without ya soaring through the sky with that battleship of yours. Now, I'm not sayin' I agree with that thing you did with the Halberd years back. I'm saying to use that ship for the right thing, and that right thing is patrolling Dreamland with it. What ya waitin' for? Fire up the Halberd and get to flying! I'm hoping to see that thing where it belongs- out and about under a sunny blue sky. It's been what, three years since it last crashed? That's an accomplishment. Feel proud of yourself, Meta. Sometimes you don't give yourself enough confidence. Go on now. And while you're at it, fly by my castle, will you? Thanks._

_~King Dedede_

_P.S. I heard what Kirby said to ya out in the hallways when I went over the security tape for the day. Can't say he's lying, of course, 'cause it's true. But man, did I have a good laugh when you just stood there like Nova decided to crash down in front of you._

:3

So Dedede really did love him. Hopefully, it was only a friendly love, though Meta Knight knew it was more than that. When he thought about what the note said, though, he couldn't find any other answer but true. He hadn't patrolled in a very long while, and as much as he hated to admit it, the knight could easily pass out from exhaustion since he worked if he couldn't sleep. He had never been the most… resilient person, and his limit for anything drastically decreased without rest. The warrior stood up and stretched, his muscles stiff and sore from sleeping at his desk. Beginning the painstaking process of putting all his armor on, he kept glancing at Dedede's note. He'd probably keep it there for the time being. Meta Knight yawned again and opened the door to find Sailor Dee. "Hi sir!" He chirped. "You weren't coming out of your room, so I was going to bring you breakfast. I hope that's okay with you."

"That's fine, Dee," the knight sighed, taking the plate and putting it on his desk. "Now could you fire up the Halberd? I'd like to take a flight around Dreamland."

"Sure! Are you coming with us? To, you know, overlook the process and everything? And survey stuff for yourself?"

"I think I'll stay here and take a nap instead. I was up quite late last night, and with Dedede crashing in my bed… besides, you know the process of starting the Halberd quite well by now."

"Alright, sir! I know the king can be quite an annoyance. Stay here and sleep as much as you like. I'll try to be extra vigilant, just like you!" Sailor Dee left and the knight checked the plate. It looked like Axe had made waffles again; Meta Knight dipped a chunk of one in the syrup and lifted his mask to eat it. Then the Halberd rumbled and soon, they left the ground far behind. He drew the curtains away from the window and let the morning sunlight flood his bedroom as he continued eating his waffles. When the knight looked out the window, he found that they were passing Dedede's castle and that they were close enough to see him working away at the deck. When the king saw the battleship from the corner of his eye, he stood up, spotted his best knight peering out from a window, and waved at him. Meta Knight thought it was quite dumb to be waving at a non-sentient thing such as his battleship, but then he realized that Dedede's eyes were trained on him. The knight waved back and reached down for a piece of waffle, but his finger dipped into the syrup. He licked the sweet substance off his finger and froze mid-lick when he realized the king was still gazing at him through his window. And he had the nerve to be _laughing_. The warrior rolled his eyes and drew the curtains shut again, making the room dark enough for him to sleep. He threw off his armor instead of making a neat little pile like he usually did. It'd be fine. He needed more of a challenge when he woke up and a scavenger hunt for his armor sounded like just the right one. Meta Knight eased into his bed, snuggled under the blankets, and closed his eyes. He thought of the note, kind Sailor Dee, and Dedede. Then the knight focused on sleep, preferably a pleasant one, and willed the thoughts to go away. Surprisingly, they obeyed, and he drifted into a deep slumber.


End file.
